LOS ANGELES, CA – This morning, Councilmember Gil Cedillo announced today at a press conference outside City Hall, a motion he will introduce requiring companies seeking contracts with the City to publicly disclose if they are also submitting contracting bids to build President Trump’s controversial Border Wall. If approved by the rest of City Council, this proposal, which is the first of its kind, would also impose strict penalties and fines on any company that fails to disclose their bidding.

“The City of Los Angeles has taken a strong position against Trump’s immigration policies, and Angelenos deserve to know if public dollars are going to contractors involved in building the wall,” Cedillo continued. “This all boils down to the type of values we wish to uphold as a community. Los Angeles chooses love, tolerance, and acceptance over hate.”

The event was also attended by a broad coalition of immigrant rights, community, and labor leaders. Apolonio Morales, Political Director of The Coalition for Humane Immigration Rights in Los Angeles (CHIRLA) emphasized, “President Donald Trump’s proposed border wall has angered our communities. As Angelenos, we celebrate and respect the diversity of our city, and we expect our city leaders to embrace those same beliefs.” He concluded, “CHIRLA has served the immigrant community here in Los Angeles for many decades, and we will continue to hold our elected leaders accountable to assure that the voices of immigrants are not silenced during the difficult times that we are currently living.”

Yamilex Rustrian, DACA recipient and Co-Founder of Children Over Politics spoke about the impact of the current immigration debate on her family and her future. “Like all Dreamers, I have many aspirations. I want to be an active leader in my community. I want to finish college, and one day I would like to be a leader in Congress.” She added. “We don’t need another wall. What we need is a pathway to citizenship for people like me who are already home here and are contributing.”

Local faith leaders have also pledged support for Councilmember Cedillo’s motion. Reverend Richard Estrada, Assistant Vicar at the Church of The Epiphany in Lincoln Heights stated, “Our faith traditions teach us to welcome immigrants and to serve those in our communities who are most in need. Today, I applaud this motion being announced by our local elected leaders who are on the right side of history by standing with these children of God and ensuring the utmost transparency to ensure that our tax dollars don’t support hate.”

The program concluded with a statement by Rusty Hicks, Executive Secretary-Treasurer of The Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, “Our union members are the Los Angeles middle class. Our tax dollars pay for this city’s budget — for all the things our community needs and deserves. There is no way that our members want their tax dollars paying construction companies who put their bottom line above our bottom line.”

This Motion Announced by Councilmember Cedillo is supported by participants from immigrant rights, faith, labor, and community organizations including UNITE HERE Local 11, The Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy (LAANE), The Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, The Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights in Los Angeles (CHIRLA), Children Over Politics, and The Church of the Epiphany.